A Great Accomplishment! Waseda is the first private university to be selected as a Super COE(Centre of Excellence)

"Formation of a collaborative research base for advanced technology and medical health care"

This programme, headed by President Katsuhiko Shirai, has been designated a Super COE, making Waseda the first private university to receive such an honour. With the motto, "Medical Care and Waseda," the programme will be newly launched as a joint researching center for advanced technology and medical health care; it will also train people of talent in the latest fields of science.

What is the Super COE?

It is the name of a research programme promoting technology funded by the Ministry of Education and Science. It is a critical test in determining whether a university will be recognised in the future as a research institution or not. The main purposes are to promote structural reform in universities, realise research development systems that can produce excellent results, and create an internationally attractive and distinguished research center. It was launched in 2001 for an initial term of five years. Up to now, five other universities have been selected for the programme, but they were all national universities (including Tokyo University). Thus, Waseda is the first private university to be chosen.

Two new institutions - Structural reformation to encourage advanced research in medical health care-

Waseda will set up two new institutions as part of the Super COE.

Biological Medical Engineering Institute (BME), led by Professor Kuniaki Tatsuta, School of Science and Engineering, will bridge the two fields of medical science and engineering to create new areas of study.

Super Open Laboratory (SOL), under the supervision of Professor Iwao Oodomari, School of Science and Engineering, will construct a new borderless research-education system by fusing the humanities and natural sciences into one field.

Association with both intramural and extramural research institutions

Graduate schools in both the arts and science fields, such as the Graduate Schools of Science and Engineering and Asian-Pacific Studies, will unite to take part in research development. We will strengthen the connections with other medical and biotechnological institutions outside of the University in order to contribute new technology in the fields of health and medical science. Strong ties with medical institutions will be especially important for Waseda in developing the most advanced research in the future.

Producing "Super Technology Officers (STO)"

In foreign countries, it is not uncommon for young researchers to earn double or triple degrees by acquiring expertise knowledge in various fields, or to get an MBA degree and be well-versed in financial affairs so that they can create careers that will make the most of their wide experience and also contribute to the society. The time when one can be ignorant of fields outside of one's own specialty, is long past. Producing distinguished talent and STOs is one of the purposes of this programme.

Post-doctoral candidates for STO will aim to earn a master's degree in Management Of Technology (MOT), while being engaged in research development at SOL. Researchers in the humanitie, on the other hand, will study advanced technology at SOL. These multi-talented people will undoubtedly play an important role not only in the research field but also in the such fields as company management and technological laws.

At the present time, the university is considering such issues as credit exchange between interdisciplinary majors in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering and the Graduate School of Asian-Pacific Studies, requirements for awarding degrees, and tuition fees. It is expected that the University will start the STO programme as early as the 2005 fiscal year. After that, Waseda plans to form the same kind of cooperative relationship with the Waseda Law School and other institute within the university.

Two new programmes - "Developing the Skills of Nanotechnology Element" (headed by Professor Shuichi Shoji, School of Science and Engineering) and "Nano, IT, Bio - Intellectual Property (IP) Management Strategy"(headed by Professor Masafumi Katsuta) - have also been created as a way to cultivate people in new fields of study. In cooperation with the COE, the two new programmes will also provide further education in the fields of advanced technology and IP for those people working outside the university. Each programme will aim to produce well-experienced technicians and strategic IP producers. In this way, university will stay in close contact with industry and strengthen Japan's international competitiveness in advanced technology.